City Council President, Richard Conlin and his legislative aid Elaine Ko;

Councilmember Sally Clark, who chairs the Committee on the Built Environment;

Karen Ko with the Department of Neighborhood;

Jim Curtin with Seattle Department of Transportation; and

Chip Nevins with the Seattle Parks Department.

The WLUC requested the meeting to discuss the Vision Plan and what we hope to initiate in 2013, which is a neighborhood discussion of land use along 35th Ave NE. While the Vision Plan identifies some extremely useful general themes and shared goals, there is not enough detail within the document to make planning-level decisions for the neighborhood. Therefore, the Vision Plan’s first two suggested actions are:

“Undertake a neighborhood plan that includes a review of current zoning standards and design guidelines with the City Department of Planning and Development. Revise development standards as appropriate in accordance with community preferences established in the neighborhood plan.”

“Work with Seattle DPD to establish neighborhood-specific design guidelines that direct new development.”

Since the unveiling of the Vision Plan in 2010, these two suggested actions have been the Wedgwood Land Use Committee’s two primary objectives. Typically though, neighborhoods that pursue these two tasks are identified as “Urban Villages,” a classification within the Comprehensive Plan for neighborhoods that have been designated to accommodate more density. Given that Urban Villages are population dense, the City can justify funding the development of these neighborhood planning tools, or updates to these tools. Along with great potential for City funding, the Urban Village classification has a more defined path for Council approval of these tools. Therefore, over this past year, the WLUC has been meeting with councilmembers, talking with City staff, and brainstorming with Planning Commission members to identify a process to develop and obtain Council approval of these neighborhood planning tools.

During Tuesday’s walk, we shared our general process for completing these land use planning tools. We also discussed a lot more as well…too much in fact to go into great detail in a single post. However, during our walk we showed the City the new Wedgwood Apartment project that’s quickly taking shape at the former JCC site. We showed the City the Morningside Substation that the Parks Department is in the process of acquiring on our behalf (which requires Council approval). We discussed current zoning designations along 35th Ave NE relative to the goals described within the Vision Plan. We discussed the potential development of design guidelines and a streetscape plan for 35th Ave NE. We discussed traffic issues along 35th Ave NE (in front of the Post Office) and at the intersection of NE 75th Street. We discussed pedestrian safety issues, such as sidewalks and a crosswalk at NE 80th Street. And we showed off Wedgwood’s favorite Christmas tree lot and new gathering place, including the new Wedgwood Emergency HUB, where Councilmember Clark is planning on picking up her tree this year from.

It was an excellent opportunity to share the goals of the Vision Plan, discuss our identified process, and receive feedback from councilmembers and City staff. They all had extremely encouraging things to say about the work of our community. We are eager to share this process and proposed timeline with the community in January at our next community meeting on January 11th. More details and specifics on the meeting will be shared shortly. In the meantime, feel free to email if you have any land use related questions.